Mining for Fel Iron- A World of Warcraft Fanfic
by Alakaia
Summary: Alakaia, an aspiring warrior and blacksmith, was a child when her parents were murdered by Scourge. She was separated from her brother when he was bitten by a feral Worgen. She was apprenticed to a local blacksmtih and trained to smith and fight. Now, she finishes her apprenticeship in Outland. There she will test her skills in preparation to join the campaign in Northrend.


Mining for Fel Iron

Alakaia sighed as she took in the beauty of Nagrand. The green trees and blue lakes reflected back the purple moon, which tinted the entire landscape a tranquil tinge of cerulean. From the trees she could hear the coos of birds taking to their roosts. Herds of Clefthoof and Talbuks bedded down in the trees where they would be safer from Direwolves during the night.

Abruptly remembering herself, Alakia resumed scanning the peaks for her quarry: a spark of green in the azure dusk. She intended to gather as much Fel Iron ore as she could, hoping to forge it into an improved set of armor, with the help of Master Smith Humphry back at Honor Hold. Her current armor was too flimsy to protect her when she joined the campaign into Northrend. She twitched on her gryphon's reins, and the white beast obliged, giving her a better line of sight. Squinting hard, she could just make out several ore nodes glinting on a small peak to the northwest. She squeezed her heels into the gryphon who squawked at the command to fly faster.

"Oh, come on, Snowfury. The sooner we mine those nodes, the sooner we can turn in for the night," Alakaia said, squeezing her legs again. The bird shook his great head but did increase his speed. Alakaia sighed; the aging gryphon was hardly a worthy mount for an aspiring warrior, but he was she could afford at the time. Perhaps if she found enough ore, she could use the extra to barter for a new mount as well, and retire Snowfury to the mountains of the Hinterlands.

A golden blur whizzed by her, spooking Snowfury and Alakaia was forced to use all her skills to remain mounted. She cooed to the beast, smoothing his ruffled feathers with one hand as he squawked, sounding for all the word like a terrified hen. Alakaia looked up, trying to see what had caused the disruption. Up ahead on the peak a Golden Drake was just settling down, and she could just make out the form of a man on his back.

"Hey! You! Those are my nodes!" Alakaia yelled. Either the man could not hear her he had chosen to ignore her. Alakaia kicked Snowfury who flew with all the speed he could muster towards the peak.

The man dismounted, patting his beast idly. He pulled a well-worn pick ax from the back beside the large war hammer strapped to his back. He removed his helmet and tied it to his pack with a strip of leather. His plate armor shone under a black and white tabard. _A member of the Argent Dawn?_ _Paladin or not, no one steals from me._

"Hey! Stop!"Alakaia jerked on Snowfury's reins, and the gryphon let out an irritated squawk as he plummeted down to land on the peak between the paladin and the nodes. She leapt from Snowfury's back and turned to face the man who now brandished the pick axe like a weapon. The two stared at each other.

"Get out of my way, youngling," the man said in a gruff voice His hair was cropped close, and the short brown hair matched the well-trimmed beard on his face. His green eyes looked like emeralds as they caught and reflected the light of the ore. A scar ran from his left cheek to his lower jaw. Clearly a man used to commanding others and expected them to obey.

Alakaia swallowed, but she steeled herself. "I saw these nodes first."She drew her sword and took her shield from her back, placing her feet into a defensive stance. She had no doubt that if it actually came to a physical altercation that she would lose to the Veteran, but she had to try.

"Doesn't matter who saw them first. It only matters who mines them first." The paladin advanced. Alakaia whipped her sword forward and pointed it at the man's throat. He paused and studied her. She crinkled up her face in angry confrontations, looking as determined as possible.

He lowered his hands to his side, placing his pickaxe through a loop on his belt. He stepped forward until the blade indented his skin. "Be careful with that. You could poke someone's eye out." He pushed the blade from his throat with his index finger and raised an eyebrow.

Alakaia narrowed her eyes but brought her blade back to point at the man. "Look, I really need that ore. I found it, and I intend to mine it. Now get on your drake and leave." She hoped she sounded braver than she felt.

The man laughed. "If anyone is going to mine that ore, it will be me. No upstart is going to tell me what I can and can't have. Besides, you only want the ore to sell at Auction."

"What? No, no, I need it to make new armor and weapons before I leave for Northrend."

The man guffawed."You? Go to Northrend? You're just a youngling. You wouldn't last a minute there. The Undead would tear you to shreds; you'd be left an unrecognizable pile of flesh, never to be returned to your family. Now, step aside. I won't say it again." He pushed past Alakaia, who tripped backwards over a rocky outcropping and started to slide across the hard ground. She stabbed her sword into the dirt to give her purchase as she scrambled to stay on top of the steep peak. She felt the wind rushing past her ears and she was wondering if Snowfury could reach her before she hit the rocks at the base of the peak.

"Help! Please," she said. The man turned to see the young warrior near the edge, and he immediately left the nodes and went to her side. He extended a gauntleted hand which she took. With one fluid motion he pulled her away from the edge and to her feet. He steadied her with one hand and removed her sword from the ground with the other. He wiped it on the grass at his feet and presented it to her, hilt first. She took it with shaking fingers and sheathed it. The man turned back to the nodes.

"Thank you," Alakaia said, staring at the ground as she struggled to steady her breathing.

"Don't make a habit out of relying on others. One day you will need help and no one will be there to save you but yourself." The man again went to the nodes and prepared to harvest the ore.

Alakaia frowned at his back and tried to dust herself off. "Okay, then. You're extremely bitter. How about we make a deal?"

The man struck at the ore, metal ringing on stone."I don't think you have anything that I want."

"No, no, not that kind of deal. A trade off, I guess you could call it."

He continued to chip away at the ore's prison.

"Why don't you take all of the Adamantine nodes? I don't need them and they're much harder to mine than Fel Iron. It shouldn't be a problem for a Veteran like you."

"Flattery doesn't work on me, lass, but I appreciate the effort."

"So you intend to steal from me? I thought a member of the Argent Dawn had better manners than that."

The man paused. He turned slowly to look at her. "Now you're blackmailing me? You have some nerve to-

A bestial roar interrupted him. They each scanned the sky, searching for the source of the sound.

"That wasn't your drake, was it?" Alakaia asked.

The man looked to his Golden Drake. The giant beast was perfectly still; it had dozed off during the argument. " I don't think so."

"That's what I was afraid of." Another roar sounded, this one much closer to their position. Alakaia and the paladin scanned the skies. They could now make out a Black Netherdrake in the night skies, and a bestial form sat upon its back.

"What is that?" Alakaia whispered.

"Come on, don't tell me you've never seen a Tauren before?" the paladin asked.

Alakaia shook her head. By now she could see the rider of the Netherdrake. He had the face and body of a bull, but stood on two legs as a human. He had two long horns branching out from his head, and a gold nose ring pierced both of his nostrils.

"Alliance dogs! Get away from that ore! It belongs to me!" the Tauren called out in a deep voice.

Alakaia readied her sword and shield, and beside her Dazze readied his warhammer. Alaiaka felt that her heart would surely burst out of her chest.

The Netherdrake landed, causing Snowfury to shriek and dive off the peak, fleeing away from the predatory beast. The paladin's drake roared a challenge and stepped closer to his master. The Netherdrake answered with a plume of onyx fire; the Golden Drake snarled and dodged away, leaping into the air to trail after the departing gryphon. Alakaia groaned, knowing it would take hours to track Snowfury down.

The Tauren dismounted, shaking the earth as he landed. He stood easily over nine feet tall, and brandished a giant axe in his hands. The paladin moved to stand in front of Alakaia, his face a mask of pure determination.

The Tauren slowly moved forward. "I am Rasou, Bane of the Fallen King. Prepare to meet your doom!"

"You offer a fancy title, but where is your proof to back it up?" The paladin challenged, swinging his warhammer a few times, loosening his shoulder muscles.

Alakaia leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Hey, it's not that I don't believe in you or anything, but I don't think you can take this guy. Let's get out of here!" She gripped the back of his shoulder.

Rasou's ears twitched. "Yes, listen to the girl, dog, and flee with your tail between your legs."

Dazze shrugged off Alakaia's hand. "No. A veteran never runs from a fight." He stepped forward, accepting the Tauren's challenge.

"You will be the first to die, foolish paladin!" He charged the paladin then. The man dodged out of the way, bringing his warhammer about to meet the armor on the Tauren's back. Rasou turned at the last second and brought his axe up, parrying the blow and catching the paladin off guard. He kicked the man square in the chest, sending him flying to the edge of the peak.

The paladin struggled to rise, but found it difficult to breathe. The Tauren's kick had crushed his chestplate, which now pressed painfully against his lungs. He tried to grab his hammer but his vision was spotty and his head swam. A great hoof entered his vision, and he uses his last bit of air to yell as the Tauren's weight pressed down on his chest, squeezing the life from him. He could just make out the sound of the youngling's screaming as he saw the great axe swinging down towards his neck.

"No! By the light, no!" Alakaia screamed.

Rasou laughed as he stood, stepping away from his victim. "That was too easy. He hasn't learned enough to be called a Veteran." The Tauren locked eyes with the human, her weapons forgotten at her feet as she stared at the paladin's detached head inside a growing pool of blood."It's your turn, girl. I am going to enjoy your screams." He moved towards her.

Alakaia backed away until she felt her boot heels slide; she was at the edge of the peak. Hysterical, she screamed, "No, get away! You're a monster!" She shrank down to the ground, covering her face with her hands.

"These nodes belong to me. You mess with my nodes, you have to pay the price. Some people can't afford it. When that happens, I take good care of them." He was close enough now that Alakaia could feel his hot breath on the top of her head. She looked up at her executioner through blurry eyes.

Rasou grinned and cajoled, "Don't worry, girl. If you're lucky, your soul will come back to a body that's mostly intact. Don't struggle, or I'm afraid my cuts won't be as precise as they should be." He raised his axe above his head, and using both hands, brought it down.

Alakaia screamed and closed her eyes. There was a brief flash of light, and she opened her eyes. "Ugh, where am I?" she rubbed her head as she could feel a headache setting in. Looking down, she becomes even more confused "What the-?"

She appeared to be lying on top of a fresh grave. The headstone offered no answers as its face was blank. Other Weathered gravestones poked up nearby like great boulders after a landslide. She looked up to the sky, a mix of grey and white clouds. If she squinted, she could almost make out the shape of faces-

 _ALAKAIA._

She jumped and looked around, but she was alone in the cemetery. "Um, hello?"

 _ALAKAIA, YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR MISSION IN THE OUTLANDS. YOU ARE BEING RECALLED TO STORMWIND TO ANSWER THE KING'S CALL TO ARMS._

"Wait, slow down. Call to arms?"

YOU MUST DEPART FOR NORTHREND AT ONCE.

"Who are you? Where are you? I-"

KNOW THIS: IF YOU FAIL, YOU WILL BE REWARDED WITH UNBEARABLE PUNISHMENTS.

She tried to speak, but a flash of red light silenced her. Her vision finally cleared, and she found herself standing on the cobbled streets of Stormwind, near the docks. She could smell salt and heard the cries of gulls and the shouts of sailors as they manned their ships. She reached out to stroke Snowfury's feathers, who cooed in appreciation.

"Are you even listening?"

Alakaia jumped as she noticed her brother, Lucian, for the first time. She put both her hands to her head and felt the pounding pulse behind her forehead."Whoa. The strangest thing just happened to me."

"And what would that be?"

"I was in Nagrand, in Outland, when a Tauren Veteran attacked me! I woke up in a cemetery, and a voice told me it was time for me to go to Northrend."

Lucian stared at her. His yellow eyes gleamed from the depths of his helmet. The salty breeze ruffled his dark fur.

"Look, I know what I saw!I'm not crazy!"

"Of course not."

Clenching her fists in excitement, Alakaia said,"Do you think I'm ready to go to Northrend now?"

Lucian snorted. "If you are going to base everything off of this strange vision you had, I guess now is as good a time to go as any."

Alakaia rushed to Snowfury's saddle, tightening the straps on her saddlebags. She ticks off items on her fingers, completing her mental checklist. Finished, she leapt onto the gryphon's back, who became restless with his mistress's energy. "Coming?" Alakaia said over her shoulder. Her brother was silent, his eyes staring in the direction of Northrend.

"I cannot."

"What? But you promised me you'd go with me on my first journey to Northrend! I need you!" She moved forward to grip her brother's paw, careful of his sharp black claws.

Refusing to look at her, he said finally, " I've been drafted to serve in the king's regiment."

"Can't you refuse?"

"Yes, but that would be dishonorable. I would be branded a coward and a traitor." He looked away and sniffed the air. His fingers traced the hilts of the swords sheathed on his back as if eager to use them.

Exasperated, Alakaia said, "You Worgens have a strange sense of honor. You could be killed!"

"Better to die abroad than as a helpless pup in a den. My death would not be in vain. I will have died protecting my king and win glory for the Alliance.

Alakaia put on her helmet, covering her face with the visage of an eagle. Her fingers twitched on Snowfury's reins. "Wouldn't it be more dishonorable to break a promise? To lose a family member?" He simply snorted, and she grinded her teeth.

"Failing the kingdom would be most dishonorable."

Alakaia was silent for a moment. Then she urged Snowfury up into the sky, and steered him in the direction of the docks where she could see a massive battleship waiting. She didn't look back, but she could hear her brother's drake roar a farewell to her. Snowfury screeched a reply.

Flying high above the ship, Alakaia could just make out the crew of _The Northspear_ rushing back and forth securing cargo. She did not see any other adventurers on board. The anchor was pulled in and the ship began to move from the dock, cutting swiftly through the water. Snowfury tucked in his wings and dropped out of the sky to land on the deck, scattering crewmen everywhere. Some shouted and shook fists; others spat on the deck at the gryphon's feet The captain barked orders that they jumped to perform, but not without giving Alakaia angry looks. Alakaia watched the towers of Stormwind recede into the distance.

 _I have no one left, now._


End file.
